Clarissa Snowflake
Clarissa "Claris" Snowflake (クラリッサ・スノーフレイク, Kurarissa Sunōfureiku) is a member of the Teikoku Kagekidan's Hanagumi. She is one of the primary female characters in Shin Sakura Taisen. Appearance Claris has long yellow hair and green eyes. Her long hair is kept straight in some portions and braided in others. She usually wears a green and white outfit. Her green and white battle uniform matches her typical outfit. She is often seen accompanied by a book of some kind. Personality She is a kind and gentle person. The creators of Project Sakura Wars have described her as having a "gentlewomanly" personality: the female counterpart to a gentleman's polite and sophisticated nature. Her ladylike composure is paralleled by her studiousness, patience, and kindness. Claris is a bookworm and is often seen engrossed in a novel. When reading, she is totally absorbed into whatever book she has. This complete mental focus, however, impairs her ability to notice the world around her. It has been demonstrated that while engrossed in literature she is utterly unaware of her surroundings and other people even when they are shouting her name into her ear or waving at her face. It is said that Claris is quite a force to be reckoned with when scorned. She can turn spiteful and has even been shown threatening the source of her ire using her Juumadou black magic. Rumor has it that during such times she uses quite foul language! Background Claris is a sixteen-year-old Luxembourgian noblewoman. She is a lady who likes reading very much. When reading, she is completely focused on whatever book she is studying at the moment, completely oblivious to the world around her. She is a successor to the Juumadou style of black magic. This is a form of sorcery that utilizes books. This magic has been passed down in her family for countless years. Claris is from the small European nation of Luxembourg. She altruistically leaves her noble family in Luxembourg to move to Japan to work for the Imperial Floral Division. This is due to how important it is to her to use her spiritual and magical powers to help people and for the greater good In the games Shin Sakura Taisen Etymology The name Clarissa originates from the Germanic name, "Clarice." This in turn is derived from the Latin word, "clarus." It means "bright, clear, or famous." Though not known to be a popular name in Luxembourg, the name is in frequent use in English, Italian, and Portuguese-speaking locales. Clarissa is also literarily significant, being featured as the name of several important and famous fictional characters as well as being the first name of a popular American poetess, Clarissa Estés. She also shares her first name with Clarissa Barton, the American humanitarian who founded the American Red Cross. Clarissa and Claris can both be considered dainty and diminutive Latinate forms of the name Clarice or Claire. However there is additional historical and religious significance to the name that probably plays a role in the naming of Claris. All of these name variants were popularized thanks in large part to Saint Clare of Assisi who left her wealthy family to found the order of nuns known as the Poor Clares. Furthermore, this order is also called "Clarisse." Given the known Christian, Buddhist, Shintoist, religious, or otherwise spiritual tones and references in the Sakura Wars series, from angels to demons to saints to nuns to even Adam and Eve, this is probably the most likely explanation for the given name, Claris. Snowflake - though by no means a common name in Luxembourg nor its official languages of German, French, nor Luxembourgish - has the meaning of a gentle and delicate crystal of water, fragile and temporal. Snowflakes symbolize the winter, the season which bridges the autumn and the spring. These seasons could be represented by other characters in the Sakura Wars series. References Navigation Category:Flower Division Category:Characters Category:Imperial Assault Force Category:Females